Philadelphia Phillies

Finding the right words to describe the importance of the Philadelphia Phillies first half-ending home stand against the NL East leading Atlanta Braves and the NL West leading Cincinnati Reds is vexing.  

Facing off against two of the top teams in the National League right before the All-Star Break is obviously important, but how important?

Let’s go old school for a second. Old school as in a game starts at 7:05 and ends at 9:14. That’s old school and means a very well-pitched game took place.

With the Philadelphia Phillies struggling, losing five of their last seven, they needed one of their pitchers to step up. That pitcher was Roy Halladay.

In a crucial three game series with the first-place Atlanta Braves, the Phillies drew first blood as Halladay outdueled Derek Lowe 3-1 in front of 45,000 plus at Citizens Bank Park.

It can now be said without a doubt that the Philadelphia Phillies will not be making their third straight trip to the World Series this October.

Or at least their manager, Charlie Manuel, seems to think they won't.

Why else would he do such a preposterous job of selecting his All-Star pitching staff and reserves?

As we all know, the Dumbest Rule in Professional Sports mandates that the winner of the MLB All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series.

Domonic Brown is, in a way, an insurance policy for the Phillies if they are unable to resign Jayson Werth this winter.  It’s pretty safe to say that the 22-year-old is quite the safety net.

In just a matter of days, things have gone from bad to worse for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Injuries and losses continue to mount, all the while the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets have increased their lead in the NL East.  And, division aside, the Phillies currently sit fifth in the Wild Card standings.

After a brief revival from the offense, it has seemingly gone back in the tank. Heck, pitchers must be starting to feel like they need to hurl a perfect game to win—although that almost didn't work for Roy Halladay.

Even though his win-loss record through 17 starts in 2010 is just 9-7, Roy Halladay is having one hell of a season. Hopefully that will be a little more clear after looking through this slide.

By the way, he's more than twice as deserving of a spot on the NL All-Star Team than Jamie Moyer.

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The Philadelphia Phillies were hoping for the best case scenario with star second baseman Chase Utley, but on Thursday they got the worst case scenario.

The Phillies placed Utley on the 15-day DL on Wednesday with a strained ligament in his right thumb. They were hoping that he would only be out a couple of weeks, but after Thursday’s events he will be out more than just a couple of weeks.

Utley had surgery yesterday to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and is expected to miss the next eight weeks. That is a big blow to Phillies.

As if the 2010 version of the Philadelphia Phillies wasn't aggravating enough, the thinned-down and beaten up version of the Phillies is enough to drive a man insane.

Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, J.A. Happ, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge, and others have all seen time on the bench or the DL. In fact, the only guy to see time in every game this season has been Ryan Howard—that's it. One guy.

As all baseball fans know, they get to vote every year for the players they want represented to start in the Midsummer Classic.

Unfortunately, most fans get the selections wrong and many undeserving players are selected to start in the All-Star game.

My list for the 2010 NL All-Star starters is based on what these players did for their teams in the first half of the season and the stats that back up their claim.

In 2009, Trevor Hoffman fooled the Milwaukee Brewers front office, coaches, players, and fans by being nothing short of awesome. In 55 games, he put together a 0.907 WHIP, a 3.43 K:BB ratio, a 3-2 record, 37 saves, and a 1.83 ERA. It was the best season he'd had in a decade.

Hell, I'll bet he even fooled himself.

Truth is, Hoffman hadn't been a truly effective Hoffman-esque reliever in a couple of seasons, and his 2009 performance was likely a mirage. Nevertheless, there were reasons for optimism in Milwaukee going into this season.

Well, it has been a disaster.